Delhi court bombing leaves many dead

At least 10 people killed and 65 injured after device hidden inside briefcase explodes at main entrance to high court At least 10 people have been killed and 65 injured in a bombing at the main entrance to the Delhi high court. Police said that an improvised explosive device (IED) hidden in a briefcase and placed near the reception centre where people queue to get visitors’ passes for entry into the court complex exploded at 10.14am on Wednesday, when the entrance was at its busiest. It is the largest attack in India’s capital since a series of bomb blasts in busy markets three years ago killed 25 people.. “It has all the signs of an IED explosion set off by a terror group,” said the home secretary, RK Singh. “The crater left by the explosion shows it was a bomb of high intensity. We had no prior intelligence regarding this attack.” It is the second time this year that Delhi’s high court has been targeted by terrorists. On 25 May, a bomb exploded at around the same location outside the court’s main gate. It was a minor blast, and no one was injured. Just as in May, no one has taken responsibility for the latest bombing. And as with the serial bomb blasts in Mumbai in July that killed 26 people and injured 130, investigators have yet to apprehend the conspirators behind the May bomb blast. The Indian prime minister, Manmohan Singh, visiting Dhaka, said: “It’s a cowardly act, and we’ll take suitable action.” Security experts see a troubling pattern in the bombings this year in India’s two most important cities, Delhi and Mumbai. Unlike in the past, the terror groups appear to be avoiding the use of any electronic communication – internet or telephone. The timing and location of the latest bombing in Delhi suggests the bombers had a good awareness of local conditions. The Delhi high court accepts public interest litigations on Wednesday, so a large number of people had queued outside the main gates at the reception centre for entry into the court. The court is less than a mile away from parliament. The house was adjourned for a while to allow the home minister P Chidambaram to make a statement on the latest atrocity. “This is an attack on the nation,” said one MP. “It is a challenge for the nation.” Ten years ago, the Indian parliament itself had been the target of a major terror strike by Islamist terror groups based in Pakistan. India Global terrorism Maseeh Rahman guardian.co.uk

Posted by on September 7, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.